Cyprus 🇨🇾

This morning we say goodbye to two of the gang who are going to Amsterdam and the rest of us are heading to Paphos in Cyprus. Paphos is all about the archeological remains, well unless you’re an English tourist going for the English food and bars!!! We arrive early to a really nice Airbnb with a private swimming pool, will defo be checking that out later. For now we go for a wander to check out the surroundings and find a spot for lunch.

As we walk toward the harbour and centre of town we pass our first archeological buildings – the Roman baths:

Holes in the roof to let the steam out:

We pass lots of tavernas and restaurants but a lot are closed. All we seem to find that’s open are places serving “English food” – not what we’re after. Eventually we find a small taverna serving a basic local menu and I’m happy to have my first halloumi on the island. We chat to the lady who’s a bit of a character and tells us that the tavernas close during the day for a siesta. She has a mad laugh and tells us (in between giggles) that she doesn’t bother with the siesta as she’s no longer interested in, let’s just say, “entertaining” her husband…. he’s standing nearby presumably understanding nothing she’s saying. We’re all looking at each other trying to figure out if we heard her correctly and she continues laughing saying she’ll close early and get some shenanigans in the evening. We are in stitches! Anyhoo, she waves us off and we continue checking out the town.

The Hrysopolitissa basilica is a short walk away and is free to enter. Its very impressive and it feels like you just stumble upon it while walking around town. It started out as a Christian basilica in the 4th century and is currently used for Anglican and Greek orthodox services. There are some impressive mosaics surrounding the church.

There are lots of fallen pillars in the area and this small one is St. Paul’s Pillar, allegedly where St. Paul was tied and scourged 39 times before he converted the Roman governer to Christianity.

We continue our walk to the harbour which is lined with tourist shops, bars and restaurants.

Later that evening after a dip in the pool and a little downtime we head back into town and have an amazing meal at a restaurant called Argo. It’s a very popular spot with both tourists and locals, especially on Saturdays as they do the special slow cooked lamb kleftiko so we’re extremely lucky to get a table. The family run restaurant do a set mezze menu which includes mixed grill, dips, assorted veg, salad, halloumi, mousaka and more! We mix two mezze meals with two of the lamb kleftiko specials and it’s way more than the four of us can eat but we more or less manage!

Next morning we set off toward the main archeological site. It’s roasting but we decide to walk the hour or so journey. There are pomegranates everywhere…… I’d love to have those at home:

We arrive at the main attraction, the Tomb of the kings:

There are numerous ancient tombs spread out over the archeological site which runs along the sea.

We walk from the new to the old town (actually I think it’s from the old town to the new town!) and pass through an area known for its artists. There’s lots of interesting street art.

It’s been a busy morning so after more delicious local food for lunch we spend the afternoon in the pool chilling out. That evening we head to a cool pub owned by an eccentric Cypriot who prides himself on knowing everything about beer. He has a huge selection of beer from all over and he even brews his own cider. Monique and I try a frozen cider which are lemon curd and hot apple pie flavoured!!

On our last day in Paphos we visit the “Nea Pafos archeological site” which is famous for its mosaics.

We’ve seen quite a lot of mosaics across the countries we’ve visited on this trip. These are as interesting as any we’ve seen.

There’s also an amphitheatre and various tombs and remains of buildings in the site.

And of course pillars… I love ancient pillars:

We walk to the lighthouse….

And continue around various ancient ruins….

We finish off our Paphos adventure with, yes you’ve guessed it, an evening of local food and wine. We get a reservation at St George’s Tavern where you get a set menu of as much food as you can eat. You don’t know what’s coming, the family just keep sending out different dishes until you tell them you’ve had enough, it is an amazing meal and a great way to to round off our Cyprus adventure.

It’s been a superb trip overall but it’s time to go home. 😩